We fanboys would have liked some nods to the similar Who adventures of the past - thinking especially of The Stones of Blood and The Curse of Fenric - and the Jack and Rose characterisations were less firm than the Doctor's.

However it is still a load of rotting tripe, the characterisations are paper thin, from the 'evil' corp manager to the braindead military officer, the plucky rebelious pilot, the scientists and not to mention the Navi.

The current vogue of 45-minute, high-concept single episodes means that everything else can get squeezed to the margins, resulting in dollops of exposition and all-over-the-place characterisations, like Hugh Bonneville's heartwarming-yet-bloodthirsty buccaneer, or the cheery Silurian medical researcher in "The Hungry Earth", memorably described by the Androzani review site as "lovable old Dr Mengele".

The major draw of the recent Star Trek film (for instance) was how most (if not all) of the actors involved actually fully * nailed* the characterisations and were all very true to the feel of the original Star Trek whilst still bringing it into the modern day.